


"Hotel get me tf out of here" - Jeongin, with love

by Dumbitchery



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: M/M, a hotel au, but i still like it uwu, don't expect a story from this, enough to force its existance upon others haha, half of them are trying to run a hotel, i had a will to live with this then i gave up sorry, jeongin and changbin should play matchmakers, okay!! that's all i think, the entire thing is just copy pasted dms between me n friends when we discussed the concept, the other half are dumb wannabe criminals, there's no rhyme or reason, they're all dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:48:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25575325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dumbitchery/pseuds/Dumbitchery
Summary: The owners of the hotel ages, but they age very, very slowly, or as some might say, not at all(I swear there's like a part of real story if you scroll past the incoherent rambling)Comment from my friend about this:"also i read part of iti love you butthe way its formattedis 💞so💞god💞damn💞confusing💞"Love you too Will <3
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin, Kim Seungmin/Lee Felix, platonic i.n/changbin
Comments: 9
Kudos: 13





	"Hotel get me tf out of here" - Jeongin, with love

**Author's Note:**

> please i beg you,,,, lower your standards before reading this <3 a lot <3 thank you <3 
> 
> I had writers block and still have and this is about as good as it will get at this point I would say sorry but I'm not entirely sorry bc my brain is currently going go girl give us that lack of energy and I'm not gonna say no to that <3
> 
> I said it in the tags (i think????) that this makes no coherent sense so basically if it changes topic then it's bc it just does and i cannot be asked to go through it and fix so please consider each sentence/paragraph its own thing!! okay uwuwuuwuuwuwu haha thanks to will(timothytheowl) n ram(the_word_chemist) for letting me ramble and rambling back yall the real ones <3
> 
> okay well if you're still sticking around for this dumpster fire of a fic i wish you good luck and feel free to scream at me to put in more effort next time :')
> 
> the link also leads to a google doc that should have pics we looked at when thinking of the hotel n stuff so if u want to see what we saw then feel free to click and look uwu okay thanks

Lonk to some pics ig (edit im about as tech savvy as a potato so i tried to link but it didn't work haha anyways there's the full link if u wanna copy and paste i hope to everything it'll work but i guarantee nothing) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v0h_3zuMiTnSPZzYcmbxdo5EBYWmPkCzRgexu3Q_nAo/edit

Hotel get me tf out of here - Jeongin

Hotel boyos (hooboos)  
Chan - director/owner of hotel hell!  
Seungmin - the guest greeter extraordinaire? Yeah  
Jisung - restaurant manager :3  
Jeongin - lobby boyo (aka desk person)

Guest boyos (geebees)  
Changbin - the brawls ofc  
Minho - the inofficial leader of their knock off mafioso gang ?  
Hyunjin - money keeper/also pghoneytrap maybe?  
Felix - sneak snake/pg honeytrap

Pairings  
Hyunsung  
Seunglix  
Minchan  
Ft. Bestest bros jeongbin 

The entire time jeongin just wants to be free he just wants to leave he and changbin watch their friends flirt and hence the title

I want a scene where guest boyos comes bursting into the hotel and are like "WE TAKE THE USUAL ROOMS AND WE ARENT H E R E IF ANYONE ASKS" while running up the stairs and then whoever is standing in the lobby can be like ... cool and then not even 2 minutes later a rag tag gang of bandits run in and are like "WHERE DID THEY GO" and lobby boyo can be like "[customer service smile] I'm afraid I don't know who you are talking about sirs. Now are you going to book a room or leave?" Like deadass no emotions at the bandits waving guns around and in true Dumb fashion manages to shoo them out while being like "sirs this is a hotel pls leave if u arent getting a room" and then goes up to guest boyos and are like "lmao yall owe me big time no questions asked"

I'm thinking that the geebees always checks into the same rooms so at some point Chan drops by and like tells them to just keep the keys and pay whenever they stay over

every wednesday, at 7:12 pm on the dot, an old lady wearing a nightgown comes in, asks for Harold Smith to be called down, and shoves a newspaper clipping of his obituary in jeongin’s face before leaving without an answer

Maybe they can reserve a room for Harold Smith on the ghost floor

And puts the obituary on the door

And the word spreads so everyone with ghosts can come and hand in their obituaries and they're put up on the doors

spooky floor is floor 53 but it’s located on the 8th level

So when geebee gang does Criminal Activities and needs extra help they go up to the ghost floor and get themselves a ghost helper by taking an obituary and then bringing it back with some kind of payment in the form of snacks

And the fifteenth floor has the hoobees rooms

the mafia gang can finance the hotel boys when they’re in trouble with broken windows and stuff

Theres a cat living in the hotel but no one knows where and the hooboos all deny it's existence when guests mention it

(It lives in minhos room)

(And it's Jisung that feeds it by leaving food in the room every night but shh bc he does Not know where the cat lives)

And the floor on that level is basically Open with like the restaurant and gym and spa and mini stores u know

*some guest mentions the 8th floor, how all the rooms are empty*  
jeongin: *glazed look into the distance for a few seconds* *looks back at them with his customer service smile* hello, how can i help you today?

just fucking restarts when the 8th floor is mentioned

In the white metal elevators there's no floor 8th button

Instead u gotta press floor 5 and floor 3 (I checked it was floor 53 my bad lmao) at the same time and wait for the buttons to flicker three times

Jeongin is the only one that has really figured out how to do it

also uhh idea that the criminal boyos hear about the 8th floor and its ghosts from jeongin, maybe overhearing some conversation (or maybe theyre racing the elevator but jeongin goes to the 8th floor and the floors just,,,, dont go to the 8th floor) so theyre like well find a way in, and spend at least a couple hours trying to get to the 8th floor, just a couple dumbasses running around the hotel in search of the 8th floor.

idea that they just dont find out how to get to the 8th floor and changbins fuckin ready to just punch the floor to get to it, then they go to jeongin and are like okay smartass where is it

They mention the 8th floor and Jeongin resets and then they ask again

But they say it like where's floor 9 minus 1

And he's like oh yeah lmao u do like this and shows them bc every time someone has asked they've said 8 so he's reset and they've given up

theyre on the elevator jeongins about to press the buttons then someone says "cant believe it took this long to find floor 8" and jeongin just stops gets out and trots back to his desk like canceling an action in the sims

Oh when they finally get all the way to floor 8 and step off they see the large numbers going 53 next to the elevator and after that they call it floor 53 when noticing it doesn't reset jeongin

THE MOMENT THEY GET BACK FROM FLOOR 8 SOMEONE SAYS FLOOR 8 AND THEY ALL RESET

It's that once you know where floor 8 is you automatically reset unless someone calls it floor 53 but no explanation why it just is that way

the criminal boys? just trek back to their rooms

but its kinda scary cuz like theyre l o u d so theyre just chanting with every step back up, how many flights of stairs??

10 flights of stairs

From ground to 11 since 8 only works with elevator

It's seen from the outside

You can count 15 floors

But there's only 14 flights of stairs

11 flights of stairs. chanting with every step (im absolutely assuming somethinf similar to the end of the get cool do). clearly heard throughout the entirety of the mostly empty, echoing hotel

Oh no the hotel is gonna be f u l l of life just to make it funner but everyone just Quickly moves out of the way when the geebees comes chanting

The hotel needs to have like 50 million rickety and exquisite black metal staircases on the inside walls going from the pool to the top of the roof and if you dare to go all the way up you get a night for free

Because sometimes those stairs just end and then starts somewhere else and sometimes there's steps missing and too many at once

So the few that has tried has dropped somewhere after the second or 3rd floor and kids use it as those jumping board things and only the people that work at the hotel knows how to get all the way up

the girl and dog in the rooftop garden are ghosts

The only ghosts that venture out from floor 8 53

they died at the same time so they either have the same obituary or theirs are always together. someone (jeongin) sees her staring wistfully out the window so he moves their obituaries to the roof garden, thats why its purposfully hard to get up there

another idea is like midnight, or some late hour. either midnight or noon, make it either spooky cuz its the only sound, or spooky cuz supernatural activity isnt supposed to happen during the day

When guests check in the standard phrase can be "here's your key, your baggage is in your room, if you hear the orchestra play in the ballroom at night then you are only hallucinating and don't enter." :)

people brush it off as like oh probably the owner likes listening to ballroom music in there, missing a loved one? then they go to sleep and its so l o u d thats not something playing from a phone speaker thats so r e a l and beautiful and it pulls at the heartstrings

I was thinking more like it's dead quiet but the moment you step onto a floor tile that is closer than 20 tiles from the ballroom doors then it will be So Loud and then what u said uwu

But the thing is to get to the rooms you have to pass within 20 tiles of the ballroom doors

Like the grand staircase in the lobby is one of those that split and twists and on that small landing is the ballroom doors and the landing is 20 tiles

So you go up the stairs and hear nothing but the moment you step onto the first tile you hear the music, then the moment you step into the next stairs it's dead quiet again

people get startled only on that step and its very common for newcomers to spend a long time kn that step

The hooboos gets asked about it all the time by guests and they're all like "listen as long as you want outside, but remember to not step inside"

The music is only auditable between 1 am and 3:27 am (27 minutes and 14 seconds on the dot)

On the 15th second it will cut out no matter where in the music it is

It will pick up from where it ended But with the tiniest change Like an additional tune

It will pick up on the same time and continue from there, the music will never completely cut out while it's playing and you never hear the change in song until you can just Feel that it's another song and it's unclear if the same song is ever played again

The hotel is very expensive to stay at but they also have a lottery thing that you add your name to and if you get drawn you get a night where you can stay for the price you want to pay and it's one person a month that gets drawn

I think it should be Seungmin that draws it

The reason is because none of the hooboos had much money before Chan inherited the hotel

And it's through the lottery and being drawn that the geebees got in from the start

They ofc since being Unlawful boyos do have enough money to check in like normal people but what's the fun in that

They all checked in when one of them won the lottery thing

And then as they have the moral values of peanuts they just stayed after that night

And then a week later Chan knocks on their door and is like lmao I like your style

when they go out of town for a week or so to rob a bank, they come back and changbins with jeongin behind the desk being like "it was so fucking awful man, we had to go to h o l i d a y i n n" and jeongin *gasps*

They Have homes outside of the hotel but what's the fun in not living in a fancy hotelAt a heavily reduced price

Bc Chan never raised the price after the lotteryAnd the other 3 hooboos just accepted it

hyunjin goes to the restaurant and just buys a bit of everything cuz other hotel food is Not As Good

Oh the geebees can repeatedly be like [sidles up at the front desk][wink] yo we're gonna go trespass in that weird house in the forest, wanna tag along? Yo we're gonna go get us some fruit from old lady bertas garden tonight, wanna tag along? Yo wanna-" and Jeongin can each time be like "no thanks make sure to take photos!"

The hooboos are lawful boyos and when the police sometimes does track the geebees to them and burst in like "WE KNOW U KEEP THEM HERE LET US SEE ROOMS [X] AND [X]" Jeongin can be like "haha silly we are good law abiding citizens those rooms are off for maintenance! but sure go ahead" and then give them the keys that go to the rooms that are permanently off for maintenance for just this reason that coincidentally happens to have those exact room numbers!

No one comments on that the room numbers on floor 11 are all out of order

Ohoho one day there's a murder in a tragically comical way and then it's never mentioned again except shortly when someone asks about it and Seungmin goes "oh the bellboy didn't get a good tip but it's all sorted now." And nothing else

I think the ocean is on the south side

Or the left I'm feeling like the ocean is on the left from the entrance barely moving around the back

And the garden stretches out on the right and alongside the ocean on the back

The path goes from that outhouse round building thing on the right through the garden down to the white gate to the pink and white beach

Should the beach be sand or small stones

If u dig down far enough (like at least a meter) you can find baby pink sand

The entire premise of the story should be "bestest bros Jeongin and Changbin deals with their friends flirting in various ways"

It's set in the time where tv doesn't exist but phones do and cars are Rare Enough but they also have a high-tech touch screen system to keep control in the hotel but letters are still a common way of communicating

The geebees main goal in the entire story is to like snatch the Queen's crown or commit the massivest art heist but ofc it's never explicitly mentioned that that's their goal

Hooboos just wants to get bfs and run their hotel

Geebees stay in the hotel every second monday and every third week each month, plus whether they come running in at random

He wasn't certainly sure when he noticed, but noticed he did and once he did he was certainly sure that the song he first started listening to wasn't the song he was listening to now. He also was entirely certain that he wasn't certain when the song had changed despite listening intently to every note.

Jeongin watched with vague interest how Jisung, like a sweet summer's breeze, slipped behind the velvet curtains with a innocent smile. The designated six o'clock vinyl faded out as the end of six pm. Jeongin smiled at the lady with a blue fur coat when she passed, and the seven o'clock vinyl played. On par with the first note, the doors to the restaurant opened and Jisung strolled out from behind the curtain, winking at Jeongin and placing a roll of bread wrapped in the thinnest napkin on the check in counter before greeting the first guests entering the restaurant. The seven o'clock vinyl was made for hunger.

Oh another thing when the hooboos moved into the hotel they were given a guidebook from Chan's supposed uncle or smthn that contains literally everything about the hotel that you can imagine from that it was built to their time

And it turns out most things in there are !hecking old!

Thing is as this is a surreal place that means each vinyl has it's own vibe that vibe checks people

And at first none of the hooboos knows who changes the track but then let's say Jisung starts doing it for funsies so he takes up the job of changing the vinyls when he can uwu

I'm thinking breakfast is 6 to 8 am lunch is 11 am to 13 pm and dinner then 6pm to 9 as last entry into the restaurant time maybe

The owners of the hotel ages, but they age very, very slowly, or as some might say, not at all 

Bls have someone go to kitchens every fucking night cuz he wasnt hungry during dinner but now at midnight theyre fucking starving

Hyunjin asking Jisung if he would humour him with a dinner and Jisung is like sure!

So Hyunjin is like cool my treat and Jisung can like deadpan go we eat for free in the restaurant

Cue H- okay then we'll go somewhere else  
J- why tho there's lots of great food here and were literally 10 feet away from a free table  
AND then end scene with like Jeongin butting in after many many many back and forths between hyunsung and being like "ji just let him try to be romantic p l s"

Idk but I just thought it would be cute if Hyunjin would try to indirectly ask Jisung out for a Date Date but constantly getting vibe checked in return

I'm imagining the last scene in the story being an exhausted bestest bros jeongbin highfiving while their friends are lowkey making out in the background

Like jeongbin finally pushed them all together and then collapse together on the couch being like damn we did good we deserve a drink now

It'll literally only be mentioned in passing believe me like "Jeongin glanced around the room spotting a whole three couples sucking face and he sighed going back to his news paper" and that would be like It

They get minchan together when someone is renting the ballroom for a wedding

And changbin n Jeongin pulls minchan along and are like standing next to them while pushing them closer and being like "hey Changbin guess who would look even better in a tuxedo than the groom that's right it's chan" "you're so right Jeongin and guess who would really suit the last name bang that's right it's minho"

"Golly gosh you're so right omg did you know Chan's schedule is free tonight Changbin?" "What no I had no idea what a coincidence minho's is too! It's almost like we planned this!"

Change of plan the premise of the story is jeongbins friends keeps flirting and they have to take extreme measures to get them together so they can stop Suffering the flirting

The entire time minchan are just standing there squished together up to their cheeks from jeongbin pushing them together as much as physically possible

I feel like seunglix would be the most sensible and easy for jeongbin to get together actually Idk why

Like we get to them last and they'll just be like "[confused Minecraft villager noise] we've already been dating for a month now??"

Minchan, just oblivious - Hyunsung, just stubborn - Seunglix, just Minecraft villagers

Throw carrots and potatoes at them and they'll sort themselves out

Either of seunglix (felix) mentions that they're just simple Minecraft villagers and Jisung takes that as a green go to throw food at them

He and jeongbin (as the couple makers supreme) teams up to make it happen

romantic moment where jisung is going batshit (reasons unknown) and seunglix are like wtf just make your fucking stew and he wheels around and throws a potato (totally not meaning to) and felix catches it i n c h e s from seungmins face and they have a MomentTM and jisung comes over and takes the potato from felixs hand

Then the next day they cook up a planwhen seunglix are being nasty cute in the lobby couches Jisung gets the go sign from jeongin and sneaks up with handfulls of potato and carrot slices (so it won't hurt too much) and just opens fire

Bc I feel like even if they aren't together seunglix would be nasty cute

just cuddling on the couches (why in the lobby tho???) and seungmin feels something hit his face and he looks up, no ones there but he hears giggling. he looks down and its a fucking carrot slice and hes never been more confused. then they get fucking rained on by potato and carrot slices

And then when theyre like JISUNG T F he can chuck the last potato slice at them and be like make me some tiny villagers u dumbos

"were gay thats not physically possible"

[Plot twist Minecraft villagers are all One Gender!]

I just like having the lobby as the Center and I'm imagining this collection of the most lavish couches and armchairs in a corner of it where they often hang out when being there so they won't have to be hiding in their rooms all the time plus it gives more hanging out time with the working boyos

Honestly I just want them to slow dance out of the ballroom onto the balcony and then all go swimming at night

Safely ofc

So not full on swimming but like playing around on the shore and in the water up to their knees

Who should be slowdancing out onto the balcony before the gang catches up and they yeet to the beach

uhh hyunsung??

(The white gate is locked at night for safety but they're the owners so they got the keys!)

so that hyunjin can tell jisung to maybe uhhh dance better?? im kidding

Hyunjin finally get his romantic moment where Jisung doesn't vibe check him

jisung’s gotta be the most oblivious fuck on earth like he just keeps accidentally rejecting hyunjin’s romantic shit until it gets to the point where jeongin just looks at him and bursts into exhausted tears from having been trying to get them together for months and jisung’s like “???????” and felix yells from another room “hyunjin wants thE D-“ and changbin football tackles him to they ground before he can finish

Consider

That exact scenario

But Jisung is fully aware and just playing

he caught on like three months ago cause he really does drink dumb bitch juice but he still pretended for a while

THE STORY IS SEPARATED INTO LIKE 20 SHORTER SNAPSHOTS AND EACH PART STARTS WITH A SHORT DESCRIPTIVE TITLE FOLLOWED BY [IMAGE DETAILS: text] IN ITALICS BEFORE THE STORY TEXT COMES BC ITS TOLD BY JEONGIN TAKING PHOTOS OF THINGS

SO LIKE THE FIRST PART IS A PHOTO OF CHAN LOOKING UP AT THE TALL HOTEL BUILDING AND ITS LIKE "i. First Sight. [Image details: A young man is looking up at the hotel. Two more young men are running towards the front doors in the background"

And then the story part goes from them finding out they're going to the hotel to seeing it for the first time before the 2nd part starts!!

So like when we have ji throwing carrots and potatoes at seunglix it's a photo Jeongin took from the reception with seunglix being cute n cuddly on the couch oblivious to Jisung sneaking up on them with a demon grin

Jeongin takes a whole bunch of pics and then never has them developed

And then the last part is like iixl. First Look [image details: none]

And then a short text on like how the hotel stood empty for many many years after the last owners passed n now this person is doing a trespassing and finds this camera on the front desk and gets the pics developed :')

Like 4th world war

A lot of places had been decimated

there's an explorer that goes to these decimated places

And one day goes to this once massive seaside city

Where while walking around n doing their thing they See It aka the MASSIVE building still perfectly intact further out from the city

Goes there in wonder about how this huge building could've been left completely unharmed (besides from natural deterioration) and finds the door unlocked after they find the camera n snoops around more they find the notebook with all hotel instructions in what was Chan's room so they can Figure out it was a hotel

The hotel is ofc completely empty

So they go home n gets the photos developed

And puts 2 n 2 together and realises those people in the photos were probably owners

Either way the pics shows life at the hotel

So they put them in the notebook and there is exactly just enough pages for all pictures

(Meaning the hotel was meant to be ownerless after boyos left uwu)

And thats why throughout the story all image details are nameless so it's just The Young Man here and The Young Men there

Bc it's the explorer writing the descriptions uwu

xii. Umbrella [image details: it's raining. Two of the young men are standing on the hotel cul-de-sac. One has an umbrella covering both of them. They are smiling at the camera]

And then the story that follows is like

Chan and Jisung around gonna go on a mission Idk what tho (this is just before geebees enter story I thinj) and Jeongin took the pic by throwing up the doors and yelling HOLD YOUR HORSES MISTERS SMILE click click OKAY YOU CAN GO NOW HAVE FUN and Jisung unfolds his umbrella too and then they're walking in the quiet rain

And after a few narrowly avoided puddles Jisung is like "its the anniversary of us moving into the hotel soon" to which Chan like hums in reply and Jisung continues "don't you think it's a little weird?"And chan is like "What's a little weird?" 

And then they go back and forth a little like u know what I'm talking about no I don't lmao tell me while a truck passes on the road they're walking along to get to the bus stop and Jisung has to angle his umbrella to shield from the rainy wind that followed the truck and then he's like "it's a little strange, don't you think, that we came to the hotel nearly fifty years ago, and still none of us look a day older."

And chan is like quiet so they walk in silence with only the heavy raindrops and their footsteps and Jisung mumbles a "I need to buy new boots" when he steps in a puddle and water seeps through the crack in the sole

And then they reach the bus stop and the rain cuts off when they step inside the little wooden hut and they shake their umbrellas off and then Chan goes "of course we age, ji, we celebrate our birthdays." In this really calm and carefree way so Jisung smiles at him because thats not how it works, really, but who is he to challenge the calm way he said it and is like "yeah, I suppose we do."

And then end scene with the sound of the rain on the wooden roof and Jisung shouting in disbelief when the bus pass them, three minutes too early

What i was thinking was that the explorer is writing the descriptions by hand

In the notebook with exactly the right amount of pages for all the pictures to fit

And I want them to be flicking through it and see notes in the sidelines that are clearly from the boyos

What's gonna be under the last titles them just

Talking

Because their bodies might not age that fast

But their souls sure does

And they've been there for a long, long time

And I want one of them Like

"Well, we've had a long run. The city's gone and no one's checking in anymore. So what do we do now?"

Bc along the long road they've figured out that once they leave the hotel their bodies age will catch up to their souls age quickly

And since the hotel stands empty without skeletons when the explorer arrives well that means they decided to head out on adventure, right?

Like,, they can have some soft talk like Jeongin tells them the camera is out of film and decides to leave it in the lobby bc the first pic was taken there and the last pic was taken there so it stays there

And someone says they want to go visit their hometown and another says they want to see snow since it was always so warm at the hotel and someone says theyre just… tired and minho's petting the cat that totally doesn't live in the hotel 

And they've all gone through the hotel before and done a few final sweeps like correcting bedding and stacking plates and straightening curtains and watering plants

Jeongin placed the camera on a table with harold Smith's obituary next to it and then was like to empty air "I'll count down from three and then please take the last photo, Harold." And they do and the camera clicks and the obituary flutters to the ground

~

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!when i still had a will to live :D made these,,, photo titles uwu

~

 **i. First Sight** _[Image details: a young man is looking up at the hotel. Two more young men are running towards the front doors in the background. They all seem happy.]_

⧫⧫⧫

The letter was inconspicuous and hefty, with smooth paper envelope. All four of them were gathered in their living room, staring at the unopened envelope. It only had Chan’s name on it, but Chan insisted they would all be there when he opened it. Jeongin wasn’t sure why but he wouldn’t complain, sitting huddled next to Seungmin in the threadbare couch. 

“Come on, open it.” It’s Jisung, impatient from watching Chan watch the envelope. 

Chan’s eyes widened when he picked it up. “It’s heavy,” he mumbled, reaching for the butter knife Jeongin used for his bread that morning. It’s only more or less clean, so Chan wiped it off on the handkerchief that doubled as their tablecloth. 

The paper that he picked out of the envelope was cream coloured and Chan folded it open. His eyebrows were furrowed when he started reading, mumbling “who the hell is Youngsik,” and over time his eyes grew wide, unbelieving. 

Jeongin grunted when Seungmin elbowed him after Jisung pinched Seungmin. “ _what’s going on?_ ” Jisung mouthed and Jeongin shrugged, hands splayed. Seungmin turned to Jisung and shrugged too. Jisung rolled his eyes.

“Guys.” Chan’s voice wavered and caught their attention in an instant. The letter he held fell to the floor. Seungmin leaned down and picked it up. “I’m a hotel owner now? Does it even work this way?” 

“Holy shit,” Seungmin mumbled, his eyes scanning the letter. Jeongin and Jisung looked between them. Chan reached for the envelope again.

“Say what now?” 

“Ferry tickets.” Chan turned the envelope upside down and shook it. Four thin papers fell out onto the table. Jeongin snatched one. Jisung did the same. It was indeed four of those rare long distance ferry tickets rich people in the bars brag about buying for their holidays, dated the next week. No return date. Jeongin startled when Seungmin pushed the letter into his hands. 

_Dear Mr. Bang Chan._

_We deeply regret to inform you that your late uncle Youngsik, owner of Hotel Haven, has passed, with you penned as the sole heir to both hotel and wealth in his testament. You are now the new owner of Hotel Haven. We have included tickets for your family and will be expecting you soon. Do not fret about keeping the hotel running; the staff will stay on and run the premises until your arrival._

_Adequate sum of money will be sent in separate letter to aid you until set time of travel. We hope_

Jeongin almost dropped the letter when Jisung screeched in his ear, snatching the paper from Jeongin’s hands. Jisung scanned the letter and threw it in the air with a whoop, grabbing Chan’s hands and pulling him up from the couch. Jisung dragged Chan around in a messy dance around the table.

“We’re going, right?” Seungmin held the ferry tickets, hope brimming in his eyes. Jeongin grinned at Jisung and Chan, who were happy dance for real. It would be too good of an opportunity to leave the slums to pass on.

“Of course we are.” 

⧫

“So this is all yours?” 

They slowly stepped out of the car. Seungmin reached out and pushed Jisung’s mouth shut, his own still hanging open. Jeongin closed his own mouth, swallowing and craning his neck. The hotel was huge. Jeongin could see a few people walking around in the massive gardens on the hotel’s right. 

“It’s ours,” Chan replied, voice breathy with wonder. Jeongin could count fifteen floors from the ground up. The gravel crunched under their feet when they moved, the driver of the car making sure the doors were closed and the bags next to their owners before rolling away. 

The quiet that fell after it’s gone was breathtaking, compared to the bustling life in the city they just passed through. It was broken by the waves from the ocean stretching out on the hotel’s left side, behind the beach and the rose bushes, the birds cawing and the absolute faintest sound of people calling out to each other on the fishermen boats dotting water. 

“This is insane,” Jisung laughed and Jeongin could see the excitement shining in his eyes. He swept his hair out of his face. “So we live here now?” 

Chan nodded, “top floor,” and Jisung cursed, looking higher up at the top of the hotel. Jeongin looked away from the hotel for long enough to dig his new camera out of his bag, slinging the strap around his neck and fiddling with the buttons. When he looked up again, Seungmin was running after Jisung towards the massive oak doors at the hotel’s entrance, both yelling about who will get the best room.

Jeongin could see people moving inside the hotel, through the massive windows fastened besides the doors.

Chan was still looking up at the hotel, a faint smile on his lips. Jeongin smiled too. Never in their lives would they have imagined living in a place like this, nevertheless owning it. The sun was beating down on them, making Chan glow. 

Jeongin lifted the camera and clicked the button to take the photo. Chan jumped at the sound, grinning when he spotted Jeongin and their abandoned bags. 

“Come on,” Chan said, lifting his and Jisung’s bags. Jeongin did the same with his and Seungmin’s. Chan gave Jeongin a mischievous look. He bolted, running towards the oak doors. “Last in is a rotten fish!” 

Jeongin gasped, grinned, and set off after him. 

⧫⧫⧫

**ii. Celebration** _[Image details: three young men sits around a small table. There is a cake and porcelain teacups. Each has a cone hat with a hand drawn “1” on. None of the men are looking at the camera. They are talking.]_

**iii. Restaurant** _[Image details: a young man is smiling widely at the camera. He has a plate in his hand with possibly desserts on it. He is holding a spoon out with possible dessert on towards the person behind the camera. There are clothed tables with more plates behind them. All tables are empty.]_

**iv. Ruins** _[Image details: the walls and floors are overgrown. A young man stands at the top of a set of marble stairs. He has a book in his hands and are turned away from the camera. His side profile looks thoughtful.]_

**v. Lottery** _[Image details: picture is taken in the lobby. One of the young men, now dressed in presumed hotel staff attire, has his arm in a bowl of paper slips. He is not looking at the camera. Another young man stands next to him, also looking at the bowl of paper slips. He seems curious.]_

**vi. Umbrella** _[Image details: it's raining. Two young men are standing on the hotel cul-de-sac. One has an umbrella covering both of them. They are smiling at the camera.]_

⧫⧫⧫

They could hear the rain before they opened the door, hitting windows and the gravel ground outside. Jisung pouted, buttoning up his coat all the way. Why it had to rain that day, he didn’t know, but they still needed to get into the city. 

“Have fun,” Seungmin called out from where he’s leaned against the reception desk, perfectly content with staying inside. Chan waved at him and Jisung stuck his tongue out, hand on the heavy door handle. 

Chan unfolded his umbrella the second they were out the door, raising it over their heads. Jisung stepped closer and together they took the steps to the gravel. Puddles were already forming, rings of varying sizes where raindrops landed. The heavy doors fell shut behind them on its own and the world was as quiet as it became in the rain. 

Jisung took a deep breath. A huff of quickly fading smoke left him when he exhaled. The air was always clean near the hotel, but the rain had taken away the warmth and given it a new chilly crispness. He stepped in a puddle when the heavy doors opened again, light spilling out onto the gravel. It wasn’t exactly dark outside, but still grey enough and early enough for the open door to make a difference.

“Wait! Stop right there! Hold your horses!” 

It’s Jeongin, yelling while scurrying down the slick marble stairs. He stopped on the last step, raising his camera. Jisung shifted, smiled, stood closer to Chan. Why Jeongin considered this a moment worth documenting, Jisung would probably never know, but it’s okay, because Jisung liked to look at the photos every now and then to recall the mundane memories.

The little camera flashed, Jeongin lowering his hands and grinning at them. “Perfect,” he called out, voice barely distorted in the rain. “You can go now.” 

Then he’s gone, the heavy doors falling shut and leaving Jisung and Chan in the rain again. Chan let out a faint laugh accompanied by a breathy cloud. “It’s a good thing there’s no one checking in today. Imagine the complaints if our receptionist ran away all the time.” 

Jisung hummed for reply, focused on unfolding his own umbrella. It’s robust and large, so it was a little difficult, but after some persuasion he managed. “Let’s go.” He took a step away from Chan so their umbrellas didn’t knock into each other. 

There must have been something about the weather, because neither of them felt the need to speak while they walked, like they usually did. The ocean beside the road was empty of the little fisherman boats and the waves were grey and choppy in a calm way. There was no wind. Jisung searched for the sun rising behind the clouds before looking down at his feet, toeing around a puddle. He shivered, his coat only keeping him warm for so long. It was strange that a summer's morning could be this cold.

They could have taken a car. They could have and Jisung sighed at himself for insisting on wanting to walk to the bus. 

The rain was drizzling onto their umbrellas and Jisung broke the quiet, looking up and ahead. “It’s the anniversary of us moving into the hotel soon. Next week, right?” 

Jisung stepped around another puddle, so large it almost covered the entire dirt road. Chan, unbothered like always, stepped right thought the puddle and made a low noise to confirm. Jisung glanced at the ocean again when Chan stayed quiet. “Don’t you think it’s a little weird?” 

“What’s a little weird?” Chan looked back at Jisung, a teasing smile tugging on the corner of his lips while they trudged up the small hill. Jisung scrunched up his face.

“You know what I’m talking about.” 

Jisung swerved around another puddle and Chan laughed. It was a clear sound in the constant rain. “No, I don’t. Tell me.” 

“Chan, for the love of everything-” Jisung startled when a truck rolled over the crest of the hill, blinding them with its headlights and honking at them. Jisung angled his umbrella towards the wind the truck created, catching most of the astray raindrops on the black fabric instead of his coat. Chan turned and waved at the truck, but Jisung bet that the truck driver couldn’t see them anymore. The red tail lights blinked at them before the truck turned onto another road and over another hill. 

“It’s a little weird, don’t you think, that we came to the hotel nearly fifty years ago, and still none of us look a day older. Do we even age anymore?” Jisung’s voice was carefree, almost to the point of sounding faked. He didn’t look at Chan and Chan didn’t look at him. 

The rain seemed louder when Chan didn’t reply and they walked in silence. Jisung cursed under his breath when he miscalculated a step and ended up with his boot in a deep puddle. Water seeped in through the crack in the sole and he wiggled his toes. “I need new boots, do you think we can get some before going back?” 

He didn’t expect a reply and neither did he get one. Jisung could see the bus station, hazy through the rain. It was downhill now, past a field of folded grass. Jisung reached out and the rain hit the bare skin on his wrist where his jacket rode up. He held onto Chan’s sleeve while the bus station came closer and closer. 

Jisung folded him umbrella before they stepped under the wooden hut, muttering “ _umbrellas unfolded under roofs are curses waiting to happen_ ” like his mother used to do. The sound of rain on fabric was swiftly replaced with rain on wood, Jisung shaking off his umbrella before taking the little fabric strip and wrapping it tight. Chan did the same.

Side by side they stood in the opening of the wood hut, watching the circles bloom on the puddles on the road. 

“Of course we age, Ji, we celebrate our birthdays.” 

Jisung jolted when Chan spoke. His voice was calm. Jisung glanced at him and they both took a step back from the rain. Their umbrellas had made their own small puddles on the worn wooden floor. Jisung scuffed his toes against the polished planks, smoothed by the years. 

That’s not really how it works, Jisung mused, but he can’t really challenge Chan when he spoke so softly, so sure of his words. Jisung smiled at Chan, letting the comfortable and rainy silence speak for him. 

They both jumped when the bus they were waiting for sped past them, three minutes early, and splashed dirty water over them both. Jisung shouted in disbelief at the bus driver’s audacity and Chan laughed. The rain kept falling.

⧫⧫⧫

**vii. Obituary** _[Image details: taken from behind the front desk. There is not a lot of people in the lobby. A woman is leaving the hotel. Her back is towards the camera. In the bottom right corner of the picture is a hint of the desk. A newspaper clipping lies on it, titled with ‘Funeral held fo.’ Rest of the word is cut off.]_

**viii. Visit** _[Image details: a young man is standing outside a hotel room. His arms are crossed. Another is holding the door open from inside. Both are grinning. The man in the hotel room looks pleased.]_

**ix. Dinner** _[Image details: seven young men are sitting at a long table. Four on one side and three on the other. There is a plate and an empty chair at the end of the row with three people. They seem to be discussing something, pointing forks at each other.]_

**x. Buttons** _[Image details: there are no people in the picture. It shows elevator buttons, from floor 2 to floor 11. Floor 8 is missing. The buttons for floor 3 and floor 5 are glowing.]_

**xi. Rush** _[Image details: taken from behind the front desk. Image is blurry. Three young men are running past. There is an arm in the corner, someone running before them out of the picture. One of the men are grinning at the camera.]_

 **xii. Pool** _[Image details: one young man is jumping into a pool, presumably from the ladder along the wall. He’s mid-air. Another young man is in the water, laughing while trying to get away in the water. He’s close to where the first boy likely will land.]_

**xiii. Cat** _[Image details: taken in a library, possibly in the hotel, from behind a bookshelf. Focus of photo is the young man crouching and holding his hand out towards a cat. It’s sitting on a fallen book on the lowest shelf. The young man seems unaware that the photo is being taken.]_

**xiv. Smile** _[Image details: a young man is smiling at the camera. Image shows only his face, zoomed in it. He is smiling wide enough for his eyes to close.]_

**xv. Disgust** _[Image details: a young man is hanging onto the front desk. His face is scrunched up with distaste. He’s looking at another young man. He’s grinning. He has dirt on his face.]_

**xvi. Sleepover** _[Image details: two beds have been pushed together and there are mattresses on the floor. seven young men are strewn out in the room. Some are looking at the camera. Some are talking. All are smiling.]_

**xvii. Caught** _[Image details: it’s dark in the corridor. The young man is illuminated by a light behind the camera. His eyes are wide. He has food in his hands and cheeks. It looks like he was sneaking when the picture was taken.]_

**xviii. Interaction** _[Image details: two young men are leaning against a table. One looks confused and amused. The other is resting his head on the table cloth, hands in his hair. There is a daisy with a broken stem in the first man’s hand.]_

**xix. Jewellery** _[Image details: four young men are lounging on a couch. All are decorated in glittering jewellery. One is showing his rings to a fifth young man behind the couch. They all look pleased. The fifth man looks surprised.]_

 **xx. Sneak Attack** _[Image details: two young men are cuddling on the couch. They are smiling at each other. There is another young man behind them, hands cupped and grinning. The men on the couch doesn’t seem to notice him.]_

**xxi. Aftermath** _[Image details: the two young men are sitting on the couch, covered in slices of possibly vegetables. One is picking slices of the other. The other is yelling at the laughing young man who was previously behind them.]_

**xxii. Elevator** _[Image details: two young men are standing outside an elevator. The floor number is 53. They both look shocked.]_

**xxiii. Police** _[Image details: two policemen are leaving the lobby. Behind one of the couches is two young men, presumably hiding. The one of the left is making a face at the policemen’s backs. The other is trying to hold him down.]_

**xxiv. Instructions** _[Image details: one of the young men are standing in the ballroom. He is holding papers in his hand and is pointing at something outside of the picture. Another man is watching from the sidelines, smiling at the man with the papers.]_

**xxv. Balcony** _[Image details: likely sunset. Picture is taking from behind a corner or a pillar. Two young men are embracing each other on a balcony. The taller man has his head on the other’s shoulder. His eyes are closed. Behind them, the sun is setting over the sea. They are alone.]_

**xxvi. Suits** _[Image details: two young men in suit stands next to each other. They are in a ballroom, people in fine evening clothes in the background. Both are looking towards the ground, hands in their pockets. Both seems to be blushing. The young man on the right is glancing at the one of the left. There is a third young man in the background, giving the camera two thumbs up above the heads of the first two men.]_

**xxvii. White Gate** _[Image details: it’s almost too dark to see. Seven young men are passing through a large white gate. Half aren’t wearing shoes and they’re all wearing suits. All are carrying towels. They are laughing and playing around. Only one is turned towards the camera, waving. There is an ocean behind them and the gate.]_

**xxviii. Kiss** _[Image details: in the middle is a young man sitting in a lawn chair with his head in his hands. Behind him is three couples, all young men. The first couple are laying in the grass holding hands and pointing at the sky. The second pair is cuddling on the double seated lawn couch next to the lone man. They are looking at each other. The last pair is furthest in the back, kissing while one of the young men gives the camera the finger, the other hand in his partner’s hair.]_

**xxix. Last Sight** _[Image details: eight men are sitting together on couches. It is the seven men from all photos, plus one more. All look older now, possibly nearing their thirties. All are smiling. Some are holding hands. They are sat in the hotel lobby. It is empty save for them.]_

**xxx.**

I want it to end with one of them like thinly calmly ask like "we're going together, right?" And then it ends with something like "Yeah, always."

**Author's Note:**

> so, brave soul, how was it? did u make it all the way through? i applaud u, i barely did haha 
> 
> but if u did thank u so much for reading!!! i hope you only lost half your braincells <3
> 
> Kinda also had this small idea to just write down the entire ghibli movie from up on poppy hill but make it chanlix but Idk if that's of any interest haha okay bye
> 
> Insta is either Slaladqueen or Dumbitchery_ if you wanna hmu uwu I love making new friends <3


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